Google provided advice on what businesses should do with their Google My Business listings if they’re affected by COVID-19.
To assist customers, businesses affected by COVID-19 are encouraged to update their Google My Business profile with with the most accurate information.
Google has published a new GMB help page with further recommendations, which include:
- Change business hours: If your business hours have changed, update the times when you’ll be open or closed.
- Update business description: Explain whether or not your business operations are affected by COVID-19. Additionally, you can share information about any extra precautions your business is taking.
- Publish a post: Share detailed and timely updates about what’s going on with your business through Google Posts.
- Update contact info: Make sure your phone number is correct so that customers can reach you.
These are all tools that were previously available to businesses, so there are no new features being added. Google is just advising businesses on how to best utilize GMB in light of the coronavirus situation.
Perhaps specific features related to COVID-19 will be added in the future, but this is what’s available for now.